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WASHINGTON — A U.S. Army brigade will begin sending small teams into as many as 35 African
nations early next year, part of an intensifying Pentagon effort to train countries to battle
extremists. It also gives the U.S. a ready and trained force to dispatch to Africa if crises
requiring the U.S. military emerge.

The teams will be limited to training and equipping efforts. They will not be permitted to
conduct military operations without specific, additional approvals from the secretary of
defense.

The sharper focus on Africa by the U.S. comes against a backdrop of widespread insurgent
violence across North Africa, and as the African Union and other nations discuss military
intervention in northern Mali.

This first-of-its-kind brigade assignment — involving teams from the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry
Division — will target countries such as Libya, Sudan, Algeria and Niger, where al-Qaida-linked
groups have been active. It also will assist nations such as Kenya and Uganda that have been
battling al-Shabab militants on the front lines in Somalia.

The teams could range from just a few people to a company of about 200.